4 people have virus variants as region reports 50 new cases of COVID-19 Friday

Four people in Waterloo region have a variant of the COVID-19 virus, public health officials say.

One person, the first case, is a woman who is known to have the variant first discovered in the U.K.

For the other three people, it's unclear which variant they have, but provincial labs have flagged the cases to Public Health Ontario. Further testing will be necessary to determine the exact variant.

Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, the region's medical officer of health, says the three additional cases all have a "connection" to international travel, but none are associated with an outbreak. One is a close contact of the first detected case.

"We expect more and more cases of variants of concern to be detected in Waterloo region," Wang said Friday during a media briefing.

Wang notedthat"early evidence suggest that variants of concern may spread more easily" and "there may be the potential for more severe illness."

50 new cases

Region of Waterloo Public Health reported 50 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday.

That brings the total in February to 225 andMarch 2020to 9,657.

There were 463 active cases in the region on Friday, which remained unchanged from Thursday. As well, 27 people were in hospital and nine people are in the intensive care unit.

The number of people who have died in the region of the novel coronavirus remained at 207.

Ontario reported another 1,670 cases of COVID-19, and the deaths of 45 more people with the illness, on Friday.

34 active outbreaks

There are 34 active outbreaks in the region, 20 of which are at long-term care and retirement homes.

There are four outbreaks at congregate care settings, including one with 50 cases at multiple locations.

The other outbreaks include:

• Two at St. Mary's General Hospital (4th floor and 5th floor).
• One at a Waterloo Catholic District School Board program with five cases. Public health indicates there are multiple cohorts involved.
• One at Conestoga Meats with 163 cases.
• One at a manufacturing workplace with 36 cases.
• One at a trades workplace with seven cases.
• One at a financial institution with four cases.
• One at an office with four cases.
• One at a warehouse with two cases.
• One at an automobile sales workplace with two cases.